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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/loose.dtd">
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>Frequently Asked Questions</title>
<meta name="generator" content="Emacs!">
</head>
<body>
<h1>Frequently Asked Questions</h1>
<dt><strong>How do I write a trigger, alias, or macro?</strong></dt>
<dd>
<p>First of all, Moxie makes no distinction between triggers, aliases, and macros. We
treat all of these things in the same way: as a <a href="plugin.html">plugin</a>.</p>
<p>All plugins are written in Common Lisp, so you'll have to have some grounding in
Lisp to do anything serious at the moment (although I have some ideas for simpler
interfaces for the non-programming-minded in the future). There are a few support
routines included in the MOXIE <a href="lisp-glossary.html#package">package</a> to
simplify common plugin tasks, such as triggers and aliases.</p>
</dd>
<dt><strong>LISP?! Why would you do that?</strong></dt>
<dd>
<p>Because I didn't want to have to write my own language for triggers, aliases, and
macros. No matter how much I worked on it, I wasn't going to get the kind of
programmability I wanted without embedding a full programming language.
I also think it's something of a waste of time to learn a new language just for the
purpose of programming a trigger in your MUX client.
</p>
<p>I could have just used AppleScript as the language of choice, and came very
close to doing so a number of times, but I had too much trouble trying to get
AS and ObjC talking as well as I'd liked, and, frankly, I don't consider it to
be full-featured enough.</p>
<p>So I chose to embed a language. There are, theoretically, a fair number
of popular languages I could have embedded, however, I chose Lisp for the
following reasons:
<ul>
<li>Real-time development. I feel that, in the scope of Moxie, having a fully
interactive development style is extremely useful. As far as I know, this
excludes PERL as a possibility.</li>
<li>Lisp has been ratified by ANSI, and is one of the few languages to do so. It
has a very large "library" that is standard from one lisp implementation to the
next, so as long as you've found code that's "Common Lisp" you've found code that
will work with Moxie.</li>
<li>Lisp is the second-oldest language still in use, after FORTRAN. While not
the largest consideration, it does guarantee that there's a fair amount of code
available for free in the world. Emacs, for example, has a huge amount of contributed
Emacs-Lisp code (which, while not common-lisp, is often easily ported).</li>
<li>And finally, because I can. I like Lisp, and I'm writing Moxie, so I get to pick.
"Give me real macros, or give me death!"</li>
</ul>
</p>
</dd>
<dt><strong>Where can I find more information on Lisp programming?</strong></dt>
<dd>
<p>There are a number of web sites devoted to Lisp programming. Below, I'll list a few
resources that should get you pointed in the right direction:
<ul>
<li><a href="lisp-glossary.html#cliki">CLiki's</a>
<a href="http://www.cliki.net/Online%20Tutorial" target="new">Online Tutorial</a> page
can get you started if you're completely new.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.paulgraham.com" target="new">Paul Graham</a> has a lot of
information on Lisp, including a free book for the more serious programmers.</li>
</ul>
</p>
</dd>
<dt><strong>What is the REPL?</strong></dt>
<dd>
<p>The <a href="lisp-glossary.html#repl">REPL</a> is your direct
interface to the Lisp sub-system. It is the key to fully interactive programming. Via
the REPL you can input Lisp commands directly and see the results - any Lisp will work
here, including function definitions. This allows you to write a function, test it, and
debug it, all without leaving the REPL, and with a much finer grain of control than with
a compile cycle.</p>
</dd>
</body>
</html>
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